Red Devils Aprilia’s Leon Haslam battled through the pain barrier during the World Superbike double header at his home circuit of Donington Park. The rider is still struggling with injury, after sustaining one broken and two cracked ribs at the last round at Imola, but he knew before he started this weekend that race distance would be a problem.
He only completed a total of six laps in succession before the races, but he did stay out for the whole duration for both feature events. Towards the end the pain returned and he fell off the pace and out of podium contention.
The Smalley rider was up the sharp end for the majority of the two outings and was battling with the Kawasaki’s of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea for the top step of the rostrum. But in the end Haslam had to settle for a respectable two fourth place finishes after losing out to Aruba.it Ducati’s Chaz Davies.
Haslam is not feeling too down hearted as he pushed as hard as he could, but the 23 laps proved punishing for the rider, and he is feeling disappointed that he missed out on a top three finish this afternoon.
“I have felt better - its been a tough day and I am disappointed that I didn’t get a podium, as that was my aim. But I will take two fourth places as that is the best I could have done today,” said Haslam, speaking to bikesportnews.com from the track.
“I felt I didn’t have much left in the tank as they were long races for me. I felt pretty good on the bike and I wasn’t too far away, but I am disappointed that I missed out on a podium.
“In both races I got to laps nine and ten and I was looking for the chequered flag and I wasn’t even near the half way point, but they were long races and in race two it was the fastest I have ever been around Donington. I was happy with my pace and I dropped into the 1’27’s which was 0.1 off the fastest lap of the race – but it was duration that was the issue today. I am happy with the bike but I lost a lot of time in the last three corners, and we had a similar issue at Imola and we will be looking to improve those weak areas.”
